Today, we made our very first Colombo Homeschool Co-op Field Trip Excursion...and it was a resounding success!! We were able to rent a van and it took us to a pottery museum. So cool! They had a little museum that showed old pottery and different types of pottery. The best part of that was the mannequins! I thought it was real when I first looked at it, and even at second glance, it was so life-like I thought it was someone just sitting very still! They also had a 'clay house', and there was a shop where they actually made the clay powder into pottery-type clay. I had no idea! I don't know where I thought the clay came from, but I never really thought about the process! They mix the powdered clay with water and rocks in big drums--think cement mixing! Then they take it out and put it in these things that squeezes all the water out of them, and eventually it's pretty out into blocks of clay. Wow. Lots of work!! Then we watch ladies throwing pots--AMAZING!! AND they let the kids do some, too! It was EXACTLY what I had been hoping for! And while Claire and Peter didn't want to try to make pots, Josh and Andrew did a really great job! After our awesome outing with the pottery ladies, we were also able to stop off at a REALLY old buddhist temple and look around. I admit, I felt like I was trespassing, but it was really fascinating to see! The inside of the temple was incredible--extremely ornate! You could tell it was seriously old! There were paintings and designs on EVERY SINGLE SURFACE, and all sorts of pretty incredible statues, including a giant golden Buddha lying on its side. I thought it was fascinating. We definitely enjoyed our day out today...and can't wait for our next co-op outing! :)

We found a baby squirrel! He's so cute! Since he squeaks all the time, we've named him Squeaky...but the boys insist on calling him Nutty, just like the last baby squirrel that found its way here a year ago. He was so sweet--he would curl up in my hand and just sleep there for like an hour! One evening, I held him in my hand while he was sleeping while I made dinner! SO cute!

Sadly, though, this morning, Peter came in to me crying. He went in to see his little friend, and picked him up to 'wake him up'...and he didn't wake up. :( Poor Peter! It breaks my heart that he was the one that found the little squirrel. He dug a hole in the backyard and Claire and I attended the funeral. So sad for us. But, happily, he's with him mommy now (she got caught in the generator...note to self: Never build your nest in the fan of a generator!), and he's not stuck inside a box! So that's happy. And we did our best to feed and care for him while he lived, so that's happy, too. So long Nutty Squeaky (or, as Josh called him: Squutty). We will see you in heaven!

While we were in the states this past fall, we came home to find that Josh's room had had a transformation...they had taken out his ENTIRE wall closet! Apparently, it was leaking water behind the false wall, and there was serious amounts of mold and nastiness there! Bleh! They said they wanted to do Claire's closet, too, but that they'd wait until we were gone in the spring.

Well, Claire's closet started to have some issues...like mushrooms growing inside of it, and cockroach nests all over! AH!!! So, we told them maybe it would be better to start that right now! So they did! Here are some pics of what it looked like during the entire week they worked on it! The false wall was so wet, they just peeled it away! There were HUGE cockroach nests coming from the ceiling. Ugh. It was SOOOO gross!

But now, the giant chunks of missing cement are patched up, the mold has been cleaned off and covered with Kilz (the awesomest mold-killing paint EVER), the cockroach nests have been destroyed, and Claire's room is clean and inviting! So happy!!

Who Am I?

As a Stay At Home Mom of 4 wonderful children, I have the amazing opportunity not only to home school them, but to do so in many different places! I am married to the most amazingly wonderful (and handsome) man in the whole world! Together, we seek out, every day, that Joy in the Journey that makes life exciting!

I like that the plot twists and turns a lot...and it makes you think. However, I don't appreciate Dan Brown's endings in his books. I find the endings incongruent with the rest of his stories--why make it a romance for the last chapter...

I'm reading this one again. I liked it the first time I read it. I'm still liking it for the second time around. I like all of Shannon Hales' books.
**Still lots of fun the second time around! I do like this book for a comfortable...